Ukraine braces for ‘large scale’ Russian invasion of ‘100,000 troops’ in January

Ukraine warns ‘100,000 troops’ amassing at its border would be ready for a January attack after Kiev rejected Russia’s NATO demands.

Ukraine is bracing for a “large scale” attack in January as an estimated 100,000 troops massed on its border with Russia.

The dire warning comes after Ukraine said it would not drop its ambitions of joining NATO, which Russia demanded after the United States said it had “evidence” Moscow was planning an invasion.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told parliament that its intelligence was analysing all possible scenarios.

“The most likely time to reach readiness for escalation will be the end of January,” he said. “The possibility of a large-scale escalation from Russia exists.”

In this picture from 2018, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stands with Ukrainian servicemen: Picture: AFP.

Moscow seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and has since backed separatists fighting Kiev in eastern Ukraine. The conflict has left more than 13,000 dead. Russia denies planning an attack.

Mr Reznikov estimated Russia had around 100,000 troops near Ukraine’s border, in Moscow-controlled Crimea and in separatist-held areas in eastern Ukraine.

The Minister said a winter “training” period had started in Russia and that Moscow had already launched exercises near Ukrainian territory.

The United States and its allies have for weeks accused Russia of planning an invasion of Ukraine and massing troops along Kiev’s borders.

Russian forces conduct military drills in April in the east of Crimea. Picture: AFP.

Moscow has dismissed the allegations as “hysteria”, with Russian M Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calling on his US counterpart Antony Blinken to provide “security guarantees” that NATO would not come closer to its borders.

Moscow wants to see an end to NATO’s eastwards expansion, after much of Eastern Europe joined the alliance following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

NATO officially opened the door to Ukraine membership in 2008, though no progress has been made since.

While Kiev maintains they are seeking a diplomatic resolution to the tensions and would not carry out “military provocations,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said dropping its plans to join the NATO military alliance “is not an option”.

A Ukrainian serviceman stands at his position on the frontline with Russian-backed separatists near the small city of Marinka, Donetsk region in April: Picture: AFP.

“I reject this idea that we have to guarantee anything to Russia. I insist that it’s Russia who has to guarantee that it will not continue its aggression against any country,” he said.

“It’s absolutely inappropriate for Russia to have any influence on decisions taken by another sovereign country, Ukraine, and another international organisation, NATO,” Mr Kuleba added.

US President Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin are due to hold direct talks in the near future about the Ukraine tensions, almost seven years after Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Russian separatists took control over part of eastern Ukraine.

- With AFP